We give an example of a non-commutative monotone polynomial f which can be computed by a polynomial-size non-commutative formula, but every monotone non-commutative circuit computing f must have an exponential size. In the non-commutative setting this gives, a fortiori, an exponential separation between monotone and general formulas, monotone and general ... more >>>

We study arithmetic proof systems $\mathbb{P}_c(\mathbb{F})$ and $\mathbb{P}_f(\mathbb{F})$ operating with arithmetic circuits and arithmetic formulas, respectively, that prove polynomial identities over a field $\mathbb{F}$. We establish a series of structural theorems about these proof systems, the main one stating that $\mathbb{P}_c(\mathbb{F})$ proofs can be balanced: if a polynomial identity of ... more >>>

Let $f$ be a non-commutative polynomial such that $f=0$ if we assume that the variables in $f$ commute. Let $Q(f)$ be the smallest $k$ such that there exist polynomials $g_1,g_1', g_2, g_2',\dots, g_k, g_k' $ with \[f\in I([g_1,g_1'], [g_2, g_2'],\dots, [g_k, g_k'] )\,,\]
where $[g,h]=gh-hg$. Then $Q(f)\leq {n\choose 2}$, where ... more >>>